New Web Addresses

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Genesis 1:11, “Then God said” “let the land produce vegetation; seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.”Genesis 1:28, “. . . Be fruitful and increase in number.” Since the beginning of time this principle is being fulfilled.In this world there are millions of babies being born; some are born premature, some full term, some planned, some are surprises, some are welcomed and some are rejected.Regardless of the circumstances, every baby was chosen by God for a purpose. You did not choose to be born; your birth was God’s purposeful choice.Colossians 1:16 says, “. . . all things were created by Christ and for Christ.”

Because we are taking our statement from the book of John it is helpful to note thatJohn’s book is the bridge from the old dispensation to the new dispensation; the great transition from the symbolic Christ throughout the Old Testament to the manifested Jesus Christ Himself. Christ is the completeness of all the historical parts. Everything in John’s Gospel is a transfer to Jesus Christ. Everything John wrote was to clarify that the new dispensation which had come was a spiritual dispensation.Matthew reveals the lordship of Jesus Christ, Mark reveals the ministry under the authority of Christ and Luke reveals God’s new humanity. John reveals to us the necessity of Jesus coming into this world to lay down His life only to take it back. He takes us from the natural realm into the spiritual realm; from the earthly to the heavenly and from the temporal into the eternal.

One road block that has prevented the church from entering the fullness of Christ is the attitude, ‘Oh, I know that scripture, I’ve read it many times; I don’t see anything new.’We cannot come to God’s word with our natural minds and expect to receive anything.There is much more in the statement, “I Chose You,” than meets the eye.I will qualify that by referring to Matthew 13. Jesus is sitting by the lake teaching the crowds.Verse 3 reads, “Then He told them many things in parables . . . . V10 The disciples came to him and asked “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” V11 He (Jesus) replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to You.”Do you realize it is to the disciples whom Jesus had chosen that the secrets of the kingdom were made known?I expect that you and I, as chosen vessels, will realize there is more to every word that our Lord Jesus spoke than we will ever know.

I am aware that there are people born into the kingdom every day and they must be fed the pure spiritual milk, but that is just the beginning; God expects us to grow.What do you spiritually hear when you read Hebrews 5:11-14, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again.You need milk, not solid food.Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”When we become born again we begin the process of growing but for some unknown reason many stop growing and stop bearing fruit.The Amplified translation of Hebrews 5:14 will help us see and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us, “But solid food is for full grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.”This tells us that if our relationship with Christ grows cold, our discernment will become dull and we won’t be able to discern what comes through our senses; we fall prey to the enemy.This is how the first man, Adam and the entire human race were deceived and died spiritually.However, the second man, Christ conquered all, even death, to live for evermore.You see although Christ presented His fullness in the New Testament that is not enough to hold us secure we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit within us. John 7:38 reads, “Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

The church needs to have its spiritual eyes reawakened to the true nature of Christ. I cannot emphasize enough that we were chosen by Jesus Christ the eternal living Word, not by any man, movement or organization.Until we have a clear understanding of Christ, we don’t have a solid foundation for our spiritual life.Everything begins and flows from our understanding of Jesus Christ.Jesus says in John 15:1, “I am the true vine . . ." V4 "Remain in me, and I will remain in you.No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” I hear our Lord giving his disciples a word of assurance; a word that would hold them true to their calling.Jesus knew what his disciples were about to see, hear and experience. He is saying the same thing to us today because of what we see happening to Christians throughout the world; Christianity as we know it today is beginning to be shaken to its core. Hebrews 12: 26-27 reads, “At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” Haggai 2:6 – 7 reads, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

What is it that the nations really desire?All around us there is fear, unrest, insecurity and no peace.Multitudes upon multitudes are fleeing their homes trying to save their lives only to be rejected, hungry, full of anguish, disappointment and death.The only answer to all the unrest is Jesus Christ. We can only find eternal peace, security, rest and eternal life in Him. John 16:33 reads, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You need to be aware of the power that is spoken in the words “I CHOSE YOU” to help you see through all the religious fog that has obscured the vision of so many children of God to the point that the true image and destiny has no transforming power.Religious tradition is another reason we don’t see fruit in our lives.Let me remind you of what Jesus said in John 8:32, “Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” Truth is not your opinion, tradition or what you think the scripture might say. Truth is Jesus Christ.The more we know Him the more He is glorified in us and through us. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerfulword.” Think about the stars and planets; billions and billions of them.Not one of them is out of place, not one of them is doing its own thing.Who is sustaining them?What is holding them in place? The spoken Word is sustaining and holding them.If God can hold these enormous majestic objects in their place, can’t He sustain and protect you through any crisis? Stars and planets don’t have a will of their own but we do, therein lies our problem.This is why our Lord came into the world to show us our destiny and how we can arrive at it. John 7:16-17 reads, “Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me.If anyone chooses to do God’s will, He will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”John 12:26 reads, “Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”John 12:44-46 reads, “Then Jesus cried out “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

These scriptures confirm that the one who is sent, the one who is appointed, the one who is chosen walks by the will of the Father.Christ is showing us what it is like to be one with the Father and what it is like to be one with the True Vine.All the essence of the life of the True Vine is in the branches.What a glorious revelation!John 14:20 reads, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I AM IN YOU.” That day is referring to the day you receive Christ as your Savior and make Him Lord of your life. It is hard to doubt the Power in the Words Jesus spoke when he said, “I CHOSE YOU.”

The Holy Spirit wants me to emphasize to you in the Body of Christ, who feel your spiritual contribution is insignificant, consider your little toe it also appears insignificant, however without it your walk becomes more difficult. If God considers it important for us to walk correctly in the natural, how much more important would it be for us to walk spiritually straight. You are not insignificant, we need you.

If you forget everything you have just read never forget this, God is all-knowing and all-wise; He never makes a mistake. The fact that He chose you should reveal that He will accomplish what He desires for His Son. 1 Corinthians 1:26-30, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God CHOSE the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God CHOSE the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He CHOSE the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.' " Selah!